Retrofitting of old diesel vehicles to convert them into electric vehicles (EV), although quite common, is yet to become mainstream in India (FILE) Solapur-based Precision Camshafts Limited (PCL) will soon introduce retrofitted light commercial vehicles on electric drive trains for on-road testing. Yatin Shah, chairman and managing director of the company, while speaking to The Indian Express, said the on-road testing would help them collect crucial information before the company starts the commercial launch of such vehicles.
Retrofitting of old diesel vehicles to convert them into electric vehicles (EV), although quite common, is yet to become mainstream in India. Karan Shan, executive director of the company, pointed out PCL’s acquisition of the Netherlands-based EMOSS which allowed them access to niche technology which allows for retrofitting.
Initially, PCL had acquired 51 per cent of the Dutch company in 2018 and finished the acquisition of the remaining 49 per cent in 2020. The total acquisition cost to PCL, Shah said, was around Rs 50 crore. “After the acquisition, we streamlined the business and the turnover of the Dutch company increased from Euro 4 million in 2018 to Euro 21 million in 2021,” he said.
The Dutch company has technology which allows for retrofitting of old vehicles which run on conventional fuel. In India, the company aims to harvest this technology and transfer old light commercial vehicles and convert them into electric vehicles. These vehicles run on diesel and are mostly used for utility services and e-commerce companies. For such companies, reliability and assurance of services is of utmost importance. While many of the fleet owners are now taking steps to convert their fleet into electric vehicles, retrofitting, the company, said allows for a more economical alternative. “Retrofitting would not only increase the life span of the vehicle but also help substantially reduce the operational cost,” said Shah.
Given the access to technology, PCL has started a new bay where the retrofitting would be done. Shah said that other than the cells, all other parts are being sourced locally. This April, the company plans to introduce 20-30 retrofitted LCVs to utility service providers and other users to test them on-road for six months.
“As a company, the telematics of each and every vehicle would be very closely monitored by us. This would give us extremely valuable feedback on the running and other operational details,” said Shah. For the next six months, the ownerships of the vehicles would be held by PCL. The commercial launch of retrofitting services would be done post the six-month period. The company can finish the retrofitting process between 48-72 hours. Around 2 million LCVs ply on the Indian roads which can be retrofitted.
Asked about the operations of EMOSS, Shah said they have revamped the operations of the Dutch company. Instead of just retrofitting, the company has developed kits which can be used by automobile manufacturers to produce electric vehicles. The kits, they said, would be supplied to the manufacturers of vehicles in the utility space. Around 30 per cent of the operations now constitute retrofitting.